kauffman



(No Model.)

0. 0. KAUFPMAN & J. AUSTIN.

TREATING RAMIE AND OTHER FIBERS.

-ented May 3. 1887.

} INVENTOR (a (a 6;

ATTORNEYS.

'v UNITED STATES PATE T OFF C CHRISTIAN o. KAUFFMANAND JOHN" Ahsrnv, on NEW ORLEANS, 'LA.

TREIATIYNG'IRAMIEIAND OT ER FIBERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent. No. 362,387, dated May 3, I887. Application'filed August 31, 1886. Serial No. 2l2,308. (No specimens.)

To all whom itmay concern.-

Be it known thatwe, CHRISTIAN JG. KAUFF- MAhl and JOHN AUSTIN, both of New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, haveinvented a newand Improved Process of Treating Ramie and other Fibers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact descriptlon.

This invention relates'to the treatment of by subjecting the fiber to the action of hot water, soaps, and chemicals,-which treatment is not onlydetrimental to the vfiber, especially where certain chemicals are used, but much time and labor is consumed in washing and subsequently'drying'the fiber. This makes the preparation ofthe fiber not only tedious and'expensive, but oiten results in more or less injuring the fiber.

Ourinvention removes these objections; and 1t consists, mainly, in subjecting the fiber after decortication to the action of hot air or to a blast of-air heated to atemperature which will drive off the moisture and solidify the gum or sap, so that said solidified matter can readily be afterward removed by mechanical means, such as heaters and hrushers.

The invention furthermore consists in treating the fiber in a continuous manner, first, to a decorticating operation, then to a drying one by artificially-heated air, and afterward to a mechanical cleaning ofiyration for removing the dried or solidified substances from the fiber, these-several operations all being performed while the fiber is in motion, and whereby all rehandling of thefiber after each operation is avoided, and much time and labor are saved.

The inventionv likewise'consists in certain detailed modes of carrying out the process, substantially as hereinafter described. 1

- i I Reference is to bezhad to the accompanying 5 5 in which similar sletters .of reference indicate drawing, forming a partof this. specification,

corresponding parts."

The drawing represents a longitudinal soctional elevation of an apparatus whichwill serve as well as any other to illustrate how our improved process is or may he carried into effect. No claim, however, is here made to the apparatus, and any other combination of mechanism or devices that will answer the purpose may be used.

Theapparatus shown in the drawing virtually includes a decorticating m'achine and a drying and cleaning appviratus substantially similar to those which are made the subjects of separate now-pending'applications by Christian O. Kaufifman, one of the subscribers of this specification. i 1

The ramie, &c., stalks to he treated are first passed onto a feed-table, b, and from thence to and through feed-rollersc 0, to one or both of'which suitable driving-motion communicated, then through a slotted frame, d. and reciprocating slotted breaker to to and through feed and guide rolls f f, and over-a net-like carrier, 9, to and between whippers h h, made to simultaneously revolve alternately in reverse directions, and from thence to and through. delivery-rolls z z. This completes the decorticati ng action, the means for doing which whether as above described or difi'erent, may pass or travel the material being treated at the rate of twenty-five feet per minute, more or less; The fiber leaving the decorticating devices then passes, without arresting its onward movement or travel, at the same uniform velocity to and through a suitable drier and cleaning devices-that is, first through: the drier, and then through the cleaning devices. In. this way the ramie or material is decorticated, its' gum or sap dried and solidified, and such solidified matter removed, and the fiber cleaned ready for the market or use without any rehandlingr The means here shown for drying and cleaning the fiber, and which are arranged immediately in rear of the decorticating devices to described, consist in part of a close hot-air drying-chamber, k,- having two endless beltlike-carriers, Z l, passing through it, and carrytween them. This chamber is supplied with a. blast of hot air, at a temperature preferably varying from 160 to 17 5Fahrenheit,by or from ,make the several operations continuous, as

ing the. fiber as it leaves the decorticator bea coil, m, in afurnaccm, through the action of a blower, 0, the coil m communicating with the chamber k at or near its one end to dry and solidify the gummy, &c., matter in the fiber, and the expelled moisture passing off by another pipe or pipes, 1). The exposure of the fiber within the drying-chamber need not exceed'a few minutes, and said chamber maybe made of any desired length to secure the necessary length of exposure,orthe fiber may, by any suitable means, be made to travel forward and backward through the drying-chamber before leaving the same for the cleaning devices. The cleaning devices here shown-that is; the devices for mechanically removing the dried and solidified matter from the fiber, and which are arranged immediately in rear of the dry ing-clmmbcr-consist of feed and delivery rol1- ers 2' 8, made to more in concertwith the contiguous parallel portions of the carrier Z Z, holding and passing the fiber in between them, and a pair of rotary whippers or heaters, 15 t, and a pair of rotary brushes, u u,which beaters and brushers, that preferably alternately rotate simultaneously in reverse directions, remove the dried and solidified gummy, &c., matters from the fiber, which then passes cleaned and ready for use or market onto a table, o.

In some cases the stalks, &c., of the fibrous plants to be disintegrated may be stripped or decorticated by means wholly disconnected from the means used to solidify-and remove the gummy, &c., matter in the fiber, and the stripped fiber afterward be separately con veyed, otherwise than in aeontinuous manner. to the drying or drying and cleaning devices; but it is preferred to make these several operations continuous and successive. as described, so as to avoid rehandling of the fiber.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In the process herein described of treating or preparing ramie, jute, hemp, and other fibers, exposing the fiber under cover, after decortication, to the action of a body or current of artificially-heated air, and afterward exposing it to a mechanical cleaning action, whereby the gummy and othermatter in the fibers are first solidified and subsequently mechanicall y removed, essentially as specified.

2. In the process herein described of treating or preparing ramic, jute, hemp, and other fibers after decortication, exposing the fiber, while in motion, first to the action of a body or current of artificially-heated air, and afterward to a mechanical cleaning action, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

3. The within described process of treating or preparing ramie, jute, hemp, and other fibers, which consists in subjecting the material,while in continuous and uniform motion, first to the action of decort-icating devices, then to a drying action by artificially-heated air, and subsequently to a beating and brushing or mechanical cleaning action, essentially as described.

CHRISTIAN o. KAUFFMAN. JOHN AUSTIN.

Witnesses to the signature of C. C. Kauif 

